Sworn / Notarized Translation

17 min read·Last updated 1 September 2026

A sworn translation is produced by a translator who has taken an oath before a notary public, and it carries that translator's own signature and seal. A notarised translation adds the notary's certification on top of that. Which one you need is decided not by you, but by the institution receiving the document.

What is a sworn translation?

For a translator to be considered "sworn" in Türkiye, they must have an oath record drawn up before a notary public. The notary examines the diploma or equivalence document proving the translator's command of the language in question and records the translator's declaration. From that point the translator holds the status of sworn translator for that language before that notary.

A translation produced by a sworn translator becomes a legal declaration once it carries their signature and seal. The translator is personally responsible for the translation's fidelity to the source text. This is precisely why official institutions accept foreign-language documents only in this form: there is an identifiable person standing behind the document.

Sworn or notarised?

These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. The difference is one of layers: a sworn translation ends with the translator's signature, while a notarised translation adds the notary's certification on top. The notary does not review the content of the translation; they certify that the translator is sworn before them and that the signature is theirs.

The decision does not rest on your preference but on what the receiving authority asks for. Some universities accept a sworn translation, while a consulate requesting the same document may require notarisation. So the right question to ask before sending anything is: "Who am I submitting this to, and what exactly do they require?"

Which documents require a sworn translation?

A sworn translation may be required for any foreign-language document that will be submitted to an official authority. What decides it is not the type of document but the requirement of the receiving institution. Even so, certain groups of documents almost always call for one in practice.

If your document is not on this list, that does not mean a sworn translation is unnecessary. A reference letter requested by a university or a technical report inside a tender file may equally fall within scope. When in doubt, simply send us the document and tell us which institution it is for.

How the process works

The sworn translation process begins when the document reaches us and ends with the delivery of a signed and sealed copy. Every step in between is shaped by which institution the document is going to, which is why our first question is administrative rather than technical.

1. 01

   Send the document

   Upload it through the quote form, email it, or send it over WhatsApp. Tell us which institution it is for — that determines the type of certification needed.

2. 02

   Scope and quote

   We review the document and share the exact amount calculated from the character count, the certification required, and a delivery date. The binding price is set at this stage.

3. 03

   Translator assignment

   The document goes to a translator who specialises in its field and holds an oath record for the language. A legal contract and a medical discharge summary do not go to the same translator.

4. 04

   Translation and quality control

   Once translated, the text goes through a comparative check against the source. Numbers, dates, proper nouns and institutional titles are verified separately.

5. 05

   Signature, seal and notary if required

   The translator signs and seals the document. If notarisation is required, it is forwarded to the notary where the oath record is held.

6. 06

   Delivery

   Receive the signed and sealed copy online, by courier, or in person from our offices in İzmir.

Apostille and use abroad

An apostille is a certificate confirming the validity of a public document between countries party to the Hague Convention. For a document going to a signatory country, an apostille removes the need for separate consular certification. For non-signatory countries, the consular legalisation process applies instead.

Apostille first, or translation first?

The order depends on the destination country and what it requires. For Turkish documents going abroad, common practice is to obtain the apostille first and then translate the document together with the apostille certificate. Proceeding the other way round can leave the apostille itself untranslated and force the work to be repeated.

Telling us the destination country at the outset lets us set the right order. That single piece of information often prevents a week's delay.

How is the price calculated?

Translation fees are calculated per page, and one page is taken as 20 lines on the basis of the Turkish Act of Fees No. 492. In digital form this corresponds to roughly 1,000 characters without spaces, or 150–200 words. Because the calculation rests on character count rather than sheet count, a sparsely typed long document and a densely typed short one can cost the same.

one page under Act No. 492

20 linesone page under Act No. 492

characters without spaces

~1,000characters without spaces

approximate word equivalent

150–200approximate word equivalent

You can check your document's character count by clicking "Words" at the bottom left in Microsoft Word. If you would rather skip that step, send us the document: we will do the calculation and share the exact amount.

Where notarisation is required, it is a separate cost item charged according to the official notary tariff. The apostille fee is likewise paid to the relevant authority. We itemise these separately in the quote so you can see what the total is made of.

What changes with the language pair?

The legal framework of sworn translation is the same for every language, but in practice the language pair affects the process noticeably. In languages outside the Latin alphabet, how proper nouns are written becomes a decision in its own right; in right-to-left languages the document layout changes; and for some languages the number of translators holding an oath record is limited, which can extend the timeline.

Script differences and name spelling

In languages such as Arabic, Persian, Russian, Greek, Armenian and Georgian, more than one correct spelling is possible when a personal name is carried into the target script. A surname in Cyrillic, for instance, may be romanised differently in English and in German. In official procedures what governs is not your preference but the spelling on your identity document: if your passport carries a latinised spelling, the translation follows it.

This looks like a trivial detail, but the process stops when an institution cannot match documents. If the spelling on a student's diploma differs from the one in their passport, the university may not accept that the two belong to the same person. That is why we recommend sending the identity page of your passport along with the document.

Right-to-left languages

Arabic, Persian and Hebrew are written right to left. In translations into these languages it is not only the text that changes but also table layout, the position of signature fields and page numbering. If the source document contains a table, the column order in the target language has to be agreed in advance; otherwise the reader loses the intended meaning.

What do different institutions ask for?

The table below summarises the institution types we encounter most often and their typical requirements. It is a guide, not a rulebook: two institutions of the same type may ask for different things, so final confirmation should always come from the institution itself.

Read the table with one caveat: the typical requirement column shows the minimum expectation. An institution may accept less or ask for more. Putting one question to them before you send the document — is a sworn translation enough, or is notarisation also required — determines the whole process.

Before you send the document

How quickly the quotation stage moves depends on how complete the information you send is. The items below are the ones most often missing from the requests that reach us.

When scanning, make sure the whole page is inside the frame and that seals, signatures and stamps are legible. A cropped edge or an unreadable stamp requires an illegible note in the translation, which in some institutions leads to the document being rejected.

Four common mistakes

Most delays in the sworn translation process come not from the translation itself but from document flow. These four are the ones we see most often.

1. 01

   Starting without asking the institution

   The type of certification required varies by institution. Work started without asking has a high chance of needing to be redone.

2. 02

   Working from a photocopy

   Some institutions require the translation to be made from the original. If you only have a photocopy, say so at the outset.

3. 03

   Leaving the apostille until last

   An apostille certificate is itself a text and usually needs translating. Obtaining it afterwards can mean translating the document again.

4. 04

   Not checking name spellings

   If the spelling differs across passport, diploma and civil registry, the institution cannot match the documents. Agree in advance which spelling governs.

Original, certified copy and photocopy

One of the most frequently confused points in the translation process is what the piece of paper in your hand legally is. An original, a certified copy and a photocopy are not interchangeable, and which one can be used depends on the institution requesting the document.

In practice the distinction that matters is this: a scanned copy is almost always enough to obtain a quote and begin translating. At the notarisation stage, however, the notary may want to see which document the translation was made from. So if you do not hold the original or a certified copy, saying so at the outset avoids a surprise on delivery day.

Who is a sworn translator?

A sworn translator is one who has declared before a notary public that they know a given language, that declaration being recorded as an oath record. The record shows which language pair that translator may work in. Holding an oath record for English does not mean a translator can sign off on a German translation.

The distinction matters in practice, because the signature on the document is an assumption of responsibility. The translator declares that the translation conforms to the source; a false declaration has legal consequences. There is therefore no room for guesswork in sworn translation: an illegible seal is flagged as illegible, never inferred.

Names, dates and addresses

What most often stalls an official procedure is not a translation error but a mismatch in spelling. When an institution cannot see the same person in two documents, the file waits. The four fields below are where that match is made.

1. 01

   Personal names

   What governs is not your preference but the spelling on your identity document. If your passport carries a latinised spelling, the translation follows it; using a different one can mean the two documents are not treated as belonging to the same person.

2. 02

   Dates

   Day and month order varies between countries; 03/04 can be read as two different dates. In official translations, therefore, the month is written out. Where a document uses the Hijri or another calendar, the Gregorian equivalent is stated as well.

3. 03

   Addresses

   An address is transferred, not translated. Street and district names are proper nouns; translated into the target language they no longer correspond to anything in the postal system. Only the parts denoting building type are explained in the target language.

4. 04

   Institutions and titles

   Institution names are kept in their original form with an explanation in brackets. For academic titles, because two education systems never map exactly onto one another, no equivalent is invented; the original title is kept.

What to do if your document is not accepted

An institution turning a translation away does not mean the translation was wrong. Most rejections are formal: a missing layer of certification, an unaccepted form of copy, or a presentation different from what was expected. What matters is learning the reason precisely.

1. 01

   Ask for the reason in writing

   Not accepted is not enough information. Ask in writing which deficiency has to be remedied; a verbal explanation can produce the same result on the second attempt.

2. 02

   Send us the reason

   Forward the stated reason to us. If what is missing is a layer of certification we carry on from there; if what is missing is the translation itself, correcting it is on us.

3. 03

   Have the original ready

   Some rejections arise because the institution wants to see which document the translation was made from. If you hold the original or a certified copy, bring it to the second submission.

4. 04

   Do not resubmit unchanged

   A second application made without remedying the stated reason is wasted time. Whatever is missing is completed first, and only then is the application renewed.

Where a translation we produced is not accepted for a reason arising from the translation, correcting it is on us. Where the rejection stems from a formal gap — for example the institution requires notarisation and only a sworn translation was originally requested — we complete the missing layer.

Delivery options

You can receive your translation signed and sealed online, have it couriered to your address, or collect it in person from our offices in İzmir. When an original wet-signed copy is required for official procedures, courier or in-person collection is preferred; if you are only uploading it to an institution digitally, online delivery is enough.

If you are unsure which form of delivery will do the job, ask the receiving institution whether they require a wet-signed original. That single question decides the difference between waiting for a courier and completing the matter the same day.

Frequently asked questions